Yishay
A Hebrew masculine name meaning "gift from God" or "God exists".
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Yishay. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Yishay today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yishay births was 2002 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yishay. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Yishay. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
2002
6 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2016 SSA rank
#14,133
Tracked since 2002
Popularity
Yishay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yishay from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 11 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yishay by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Yishay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Yishays live
Origin
Meaning and history of Yishay
The name Yishay has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture. It is a variant spelling of the biblical name Ishai or Yishai, which means "gift" or "present of God" in Hebrew.
The name Yishay is believed to have been in use since ancient times, dating back to the biblical era. It is found in the Hebrew Bible, where it refers to Jesse, the father of King David. In the Book of Samuel, Jesse is described as a Bethlehemite and a prominent member of the tribe of Judah.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yishay can be found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, a collection of ancient Jewish texts discovered in the Qumran Caves near the Dead Sea. These scrolls, which date back to the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE, contain references to individuals bearing the name Yishay.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Yishay. One of the most famous was Yishay ben Avraham (1195-1263 CE), a prominent Jewish scholar and philosopher from Spain. He is best known for his work "Sefer ha-Ikkarim" (Book of Principles), which defended traditional Jewish beliefs against the challenges posed by philosophy and rationalism.
Another notable figure was Yishay Frankel (1801-1892), a renowned Talmudic scholar and author from Lithuania. He wrote numerous works on Jewish law and was highly respected for his vast knowledge and insights.
Yishay Hurvitz (1918-1991) was an Israeli historian and professor of Jewish history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He made significant contributions to the study of Jewish communities in the Middle Ages and authored several books on the subject.
Yishay Ribo-King (1924-2012) was an Israeli jurist and politician who served as a member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) and as the President of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1983 to 1988.
Yishay Garbuz (born 1970) is an Israeli sculptor and installation artist known for her large-scale public artworks and use of unconventional materials. Her work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and museums around the world.
People
Yishay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yishay as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Y
Other first names starting with Y with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Yishay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yishay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yishay going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Yishay a common name?
We classify Yishay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 21 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yishay most popular?
The single biggest year for Yishay was 2002, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yishay is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Yishay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yishay a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Yishay in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Yishay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yishay in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Yishay can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Yishay?
See how many people share the name Yishay on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.